Ivan Illich theorized that hope means trusting faith in the goodness of nature, while expectation relies on programmed and human-controlled outcomes. In other words, hope centers our desire on a person from whom we await a gift; expectation looks forward to satisfaction from a predictable process, which will produce what we are entitled to expect.
Never have I found the theories of Illich, who was a distinguished philosopher and sociologist but above all a free thinker, more illuminating and relevant than they are today. Society has neglected hope in favor of performance. And the pandemic has not helped: the massive and sudden shift to two-dimensional, remote relationships conducted over the computer screen or, more recently, the hybrid office-and-home solutions focus on technical content, speed of interaction and verticality of outcomes at the expense of process and relationships.
Our current malaise requires an aptitude for the exchange of humanity, experience and knowledge in organizations (and in society in general) that has been lost, to such an extent that it has reduced the human being to a performance machine, no longer able to recognize the meaning of his actions. The survival of the human species depends on our ability to rediscover ourselves as a social force for good and as a collective community attentive to sustainable growth and development. This is why the most innovative companies are increasingly looking at impact investing, which is a general investment strategy that seeks to generate financial returns while also creating a positive social or environmental impact. Investors who adopt impact investing take into account a company's commitment to corporate social responsibility or the duty to positively serve society as a whole.
The survival of the human species depends on our ability to rediscover ourselves as a social force ... [+]
Can organizations today provide a space to build meaning for the lives of those who work there, health and friendship in a community aimed at achieving goals of the common good, and collective ways of developing and growing in the areas where they operate? Is this one of the responsibilities of companies, or are those correct who believe that meaning in life is to be found outside of work (in a somewhat schizoid manner)? Friendship is a word that now sounds quaint; certainly not a driver of social growth at a time when people believe that humans can legitimately harm each other and then hide from understanding that the hand that kills one's fellow man is essentially a hand armed against oneself. But in times like ours, it becomes essential for organizations to focus more on creating governance also aimed at fostering friendship among those with common interests, even though they may be different. The good can only prosper from a forward-looking common vision. It is in everyone's interest for this to happen; it is in everyone's interest for a healthy society and for companies to continue to thrive.
The pandemic has clearly accelerated the understanding of certain organizational tasks; some can be done remotely and some require three-dimensional nearness. The latter rest on the value of physical encounters, learning by proximity, and exchange of interpersonal experiences that lead to sharing a space where commitment, ethics, mutual credibility, and respect for each other's diversity are functional to business success. Each organizational culture will have its own way to adapt to these dimensions; each company has its own way to create communal spaces, each person with their own collective space of reference.
These sorts of spaces can nurture the form and substance of that unique capacity that Illich calls “hope.” We could also call it a drive for innovation, free from dogmas and predetermined rules that limit individual and collective engagement and generativity. In this sense, “hope” is a creation of processes capable of continuous motion toward a future that is different from the past. It’s a dignified evolution for an enterprise. In this phase of hybridization, where the sense of belonging and internal cohesion seems to be weakening, setting aside a space for a “training ground” for relationships that allows for meaningful and authentic human encounters seems like a valuable opportunity to transform companies into hubs for younger generations that seek professional-existential solutions capable of creating a better world.
